View source for Dario Fo

{{Short description|Italian playwright, actor, singer-songwriter, director, and politician}}
{{use dmy dates|date=October 2023}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [[:Template:Infobox writer/doc]] -->
| birth_name       = Dario Luigi Angelo Fo
| image            = Dario Fo in Venice Film Festival 02 (cropped).jpg
| caption          = Fo in 1985
| birth_date       = {{Birth date |1926|3|24|df=yes}}
| birth_place      = [[Sangiano]], Kingdom of Italy
| death_date       = {{Death date and age|2016|10|13|1926|3|24|df=yes}}
| death_place      = [[Milan]], Italy
| occupation       = {{flatlist|
* Playwright
* actor
* director
* composer
}}
| period           = [[Post-war era]]
| genre            = Drama
| subject          = {{flatlist|
* Abortion
* assassinations
* [[conspicuous consumption]]
* corruption
* [[drug addiction]]
* [[European history]]
* [[mechanisation]]
* [[organised crime]]
* [[Power (social and political)|power]]
* racism
* [[Roman Catholic theology]]
* [[sexism]]
* war
}}
| movement         = 
| notableworks     = {{flatlist|class=nowraplinks|
* ''[[The Virtuous Burglar]]''
* ''[[Archangels Don't Play Pinball]]''
* ''[[Mistero Buffo]]''
* ''[[Accidental Death of an Anarchist]]''
* ''[[Can't Pay? Won't Pay!]]''
* ''[[Trumpets and Raspberries]]''
* ''{{wraplink|Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman}}''
* ''[[The Pope and the Witch]]''
}}
| awards           = {{awards|[[Nobel Prize in Literature]]|1997}}
| spouse           = {{marriage|[[Franca Rame]]|1954|2013|reason=died}}
| children         = [[Jacopo Fo]]
{{Infobox person|child=yes
| signature    = Dario Fo firma.svg
| website      = {{URL|http://www.dariofo.it/}} }}
}}

'''Dario Luigi Angelo Fo''' ({{IPA|it|ˈdaːrjo ˈfɔ|lang}}; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, [[Scenic design|stage designer]], songwriter, [[political campaign]]er for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the [[1997 Nobel Prize in Literature]].<ref name="mitchell-3"/> In his time he was "arguably the most widely performed contemporary playwright in world theatre".<ref name="mitchell-xiii">Mitchell 1999, p. xiii</ref> Much of his dramatic work depends on improvisation and comprises the recovery of "illegitimate" forms of theatre, such as those performed by ''[[Jester|giullari]]'' (medieval strolling players)<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 4</ref> and, more famously, the ancient Italian style of ''[[commedia dell'arte]]''.<ref name="mitchell-91-92"/>

His plays have been translated into 30 languages and performed across the world, including in Argentina, Bulgaria, Canada, Chile, India, Iran, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100523/Magazine/sundaytimestvtimes_6.html |title=Prasanna brings 'Debiddo'}}</ref> Sweden, the United Kingdom,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsF/fo-dario.html#45251|title=Dario Fo - complete guide to the Playwright, Plays, Theatres, Agent|publisher=doollee.com|access-date=14 October 2016|archive-date=10 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161010003451/http://www.doollee.com/PlaywrightsF/fo-dario.html#45251|url-status=dead}}</ref> the United States,<ref>{{cite web |url= https://americanrepertorytheater.org/bio/dario-fo/ |title= Dario Fo|website=A.R.T.}}</ref> and Yugoslavia.<ref name="mitchell-65"/><ref name="mitchell-101"/> His work of the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s is peppered with criticisms of assassinations, corruption, organised crime, racism, [[Catholic theology|Roman Catholic theology]], and war. Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, he took to lampooning [[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]] and its leader [[Silvio Berlusconi]], while his targets of the 2010s included the banks amid the [[European debt crisis|European sovereign-debt crisis]]. Also in the 2010s, he became the main ideologue of the [[Five Star Movement]], the anti-establishment party led by [[Beppe Grillo]],<ref>{{cite web|url=http://genova.repubblica.it/dettaglio-news/13:37-13:37/4434549|title=M5S: arrivato Grillo, sotto il palco anche Dario Fo - Genova la Repubblica.it|publisher=genova.repubblica.it|access-date=14 October 2016|archive-date=4 December 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131204200004/http://genova.repubblica.it/dettaglio-news/13:37-13:37/4434549|url-status=dead}}</ref> often referred to by its members as "the Master".<ref>[http://www.beppegrillo.it/2013/12/la_rai_contro_il_v3day.html La RAI contro il V3DAY] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207000728/http://www.beppegrillo.it/2013/12/la_rai_contro_il_v3day.html |date=2013-12-07 }}, ''Il blog di Beppe Grillo''</ref>

Fo's solo ''pièce célèbre'', titled ''[[Mistero Buffo]]'' and performed across Europe, Asia, Canada and Latin America over a 30-year period, is recognised as one of the most controversial and popular spectacles in postwar European theatre and has been denounced by Cardinal [[Ugo Poletti]], [[Cardinal Vicar]] for the [[Diocese of Rome]], as "the most blasphemous show in the history of television".<ref name="mitchell-3">Mitchell 1999, p. 3</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Zaccuri |first=Alessandro |date=13 October 2016 |title=Milano. Addio a Fo, il primo Nobel anomalo |trans-title=Milan, Farewell to Fo, the anomalous Nobel laureate |url=https://www.avvenire.it/agora/pagine/addio-a-dario-fo-nobel-anomalo |language=it |newspaper=[[Avvenire]] |location=[[Milan]] |access-date=3 December 2016 }}</ref> The title of the original English translation of ''Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!'' (''[[Can't Pay? Won't Pay!]]'') has passed into the English language,<ref name=lyn_gardner_guardian_pay/> and the play is described as capturing "something universal in actions and reactions of the working class".<ref>Skorin-Kapov, Jadranka (2016), "The Intertwining of Aesthetics and Ethics: Exceeding of Expectations, Ecstasy, Sublimity," Lexington Books, {{ISBN|978-1498524568}}</ref>

His receipt of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature marked the "international acknowledgment of Fo as a major figure in twentieth-century world theatre".<ref name="mitchell-xiv"/> The [[Swedish Academy]] praised Fo as a writer "who emulates the jesters of the [[Middle Ages]] in scourging authority and upholding the dignity of the downtrodden".<ref name=nobelprize>{{cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Literature 1997 |publisher=Nobelprize |date=7 October 2010 |url=http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1997 |access-date=7 October 2010}}</ref> He owned and operated a theatre company. Fo was an [[Atheism|atheist]].<ref>Dario Fo, ''Il paese dei mezaràt'', Feltrinelli, Milano, 2004</ref>

==Early life and education==
An eldest child, Fo was born at [[Sangiano]], in [[Lombardy]]'s [[Province of Varese]], near the eastern shore of [[Lake Maggiore]].<ref name="mitchell-47"/> His younger brother Fulvio would become a theatre administrator, their younger sister Bianca Fo Garambois, a writer.<ref name="mitchell-47"/> Their mother, Pina Rota Fo, from a peasant background, wrote a book of reminiscences of the area between the wars, ''Il paese delle rane'' (''Land of Frogs'', 1978).<ref name="mitchell-47"/> Their father, Felice, was a [[station master]] for the Italian state railway, and the family frequently moved along the Swiss border when Felice was transferred to new postings.<ref name="mitchell-47"/> Felice, a [[Italian Socialist Party|socialist]], was also an actor, appearing for an amateur theatre company in works by [[Henrik Ibsen|Ibsen]] among others.<ref name="mitchell-47">Mitchell 1999, p. 47</ref> Fo learned storytelling from his maternal grandfather and Lombard fishers and [[Glassblowing|glassblower]]s. Among the places in which Fo lived during his early years was [[Porto Valtravaglia]], a glassblowing colony in which, it has been claimed, resided the highest percentage of insane people in Italy.<ref name="mitchell-4950">Mitchell 1999, p. 49 <!--Mitchell's book spells it "Portoaltravaglia". ** The correct name is Portovaltravaglia, as it's where the Val Travaglia (Travaglia Valley) meets the lake **--></ref>

In 1942, Fo moved to [[Milan]] to study at the Academy [[Brera Academy]].<ref name="mitchell-4950"/> However, the [[World War II|Second World War]] intervened. At age 16, Fo was part of the last generation of soldiers drafted by the fascist army of Mussolini's Repubblica Sociale Italiana. Years later, when questioned about his affiliation, Fo explained that he initially opted to adopt a low profile because his family was active in the [[Anti-fascism|anti-fascist]] [[Italian resistance movement|Resistance]]. Fo secretly helped his father to smuggle refugees and Allied soldiers to Switzerland by disguising them as Lombard peasants.<ref name="mitchell-4950"/> His father is also thought to have helped smuggle Jewish scientists to the safety of Switzerland.<ref>{{cite news |first=Alex |last=Duval Smith |title=A Nobel Calling: 100 Years of Controversy |newspaper=[[The Independent]] |date=14 October 2005 |quote=1997: As a young man, the author of ''Accidental Death of an Anarchist'' was conscripted into Mussolini's army towards the end of the war, but escaped and hid in an attic ... His father played a key role in the Resistance during the Second World War, smuggling Jewish scientists into Switzerland.}}</ref> As the end of the war approached, Fo joined an anti-aircraft division of the navy, anticipating an immediate discharge due to a shortage of munitions. He was mistaken and was instead dispatched to a camp in [[Monza]] at which [[Benito Mussolini]] himself arrived. Fo soon deserted with the aid of false documents and wandered for a while before joining a parachute squadron. He then deserted this as well, prompting a further unsuccessful search for the Resistance movement during which he slept rough in the countryside.<ref name="mitchell-4950"/>

His statements were widely denied by the testimonies of both partisans and his fascist comrades according to whom Fo participated, with the task of carrying bombs, in the roundup of Val Cannobina for the reconquest of [[Ossola]], as well as by a sentence of the court of [[Varese]] on 15 February 1979.<ref>{{cite web | title=Il rosso FO detto DARIO già fascista | date=17 March 2011 | url=https://ilgraffionews.wordpress.com/2011/03/18/il-rosso-fo-detto-dario-gia-fascista/ }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.tempi.it/dario-fo-il-grande-giullare-di-ogni-regime/ | title=Dario Fo, il Grande Giullare di ogni regime | date=14 October 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://archivio.blitzquotidiano.it/opinioni/dario-fo-dalla-rsi-al-premio-nobel-le-svolte-della-vita-di-una-icona-della-sinistra-2566942/ | title=Dario Fo dalla Rsi al Premio Nobel, le svolte della vita di una icona della sinistra | date=14 October 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.dagospia.com/cronache/negli-anni-settanta-quando-venne-fuori-suo-passato-fascista-dario-fo-133893 | title=Negli anni settanta, quando venne fuori il suo passato da fascista, dario fo prima nego' poi | date=14 October 2016 }}</ref>

After the war Fo returned to the Brera Academy, also taking up architectural studies at the [[Politecnico di Milano]].<ref name="mitchell-4950"/> He started a thesis on Roman architecture, but becoming disillusioned by the cheap impersonal work expected of architects after the war, he left his studies before his final examinations.<ref name="mitchell-4950"/> He had a nervous breakdown; a doctor told him to spend time doing that which brought him joy.<ref name="mitchell-4950"/> He began to paint and became involved in the ''piccoli teatri'' (small theatres) movement, in which he began to present improvised [[monologue]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.italyonthisday.com/2016/03/dario-fo-writer-and-actor.html|title = Dario Fo – writer and actor}}</ref>

He considered his artistic influences to include [[Angelo Beolco|Beolco]], [[Bertolt Brecht|Brecht]], [[Anton Chekhov|Chekhov]], [[Eduardo De Filippo|De Filippo]], [[Antonio Gramsci|Gramsci]], [[Vladimir Mayakovsky|Mayakovsky]], [[Molière]], [[George Bernard Shaw|Shaw]] and [[Giorgio Strehler|Strehler]].<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 50–51; Strehler would later become Fo's chief rival in Milan, with Fo disagreeing with his interpretations of Brecht, though Brecht himself admired them.</ref><ref name="mitchell-56"/><ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 234. Fo declared [[Angelo Beolco]] (Ruzzante) and [[Molière]] to be his mentors: "both of them authors, actor-managers and directors of their own plays, who were treated with arrogance and contempt by the authorities and their literary lackeys, and hated because they used their stages to fight against hypocrisy and violence by making people laugh."</ref>

==Career==

===1950s===
In 1950, Fo asked to work with [[Franco Parenti]] on a variety show performed by radio actors, beginning a collaboration that would last until 1954. Fo delighted audiences with stories of his upbringing, which Parenti was very impressed by, describing them as "absolutely original, with an extraordinary humour, wit and personification. When the show was over we'd go for walks round the lake and he'd tell me more stories. In this way we originated a project in which we would work together on a new type of revue, one which didn't copy reality, but which involved people and took a stand."<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 52</ref>

In late 1951, after Fo had gained experience with Parenti, Italian national radio station [[RAI]] invited Fo to perform a solo Saturday evening comedy series ''Poer nano'' (''Poor thing''), airing after Parenti's ''Anacleto the Gas Man''. Fo created 18 adult fairy tale monologues adapted from biblical and historical tales. The series also featured Shakespearean tales with various twists, such as a version of ''[[Hamlet]]'' in which [[Prince Hamlet|the titular character]] kills his father to [[Oedipus complex|continue an affair]] with [[Gertrude (Hamlet)|his mother]]; [[Ophelia]] is portrayed as [[King Claudius|Hamlet's uncle]]'s trans mistress, while [[Horatio (Hamlet)|Horatio]] plays [[Ghost (Hamlet)|the ghost of Hamlet's father]] dressed up as a sheet and only appears when Hamlet is drunk. The series also featured an [[Albinism|albino]] [[Othello (character)|Othello]] and a sadistic [[Juliet]] who keeps [[Romeo]] in her garden with savage dogs.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 53</ref> Scandalised authorities cancelled the show. Nevertheless, Fo performed it on stage at the [[:it:Odeon (Milano)|Teatro Odeon]] in Milan in 1952, which allowed him to develop the gesture and action not required for radio.<ref name="mitchell-54">Mitchell 1999, p. 54</ref> Also in 1952, Fo performed ''Cocoricò'' with [[Giustino Durano]], which featured a 20-minute sketch focusing on the plight of [[Jim Crow laws|black people in the United States]].<ref name="mitchell-54"/>

[[File:Dario Fo, Franca Rame, Jacopo Fo.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Dario Fo and [[Franca Rame]] with their newborn son [[Jacopo Fo|Jacopo]]]]
In 1953, Fo&mdash;in collaboration with Parenti and Durano in their own revue company which they called I Dritti (The Stand-ups)&mdash;co-wrote, co-directed and designed the sets and costumes for a revue called ''Il dito nell'occhio'' (''A finger in the eye'').<ref name="mitchell-55">Mitchell 1999, p. 55</ref> In these early years, Fo has been influenced by the Italian tradition of the actor-author, just like Ettore Petrolini.<ref name="soriani">Soriani 2020, p. 145</ref> The title of his first revue referred to that of a column in the [[Italian Communist Party]] (PCI) newspaper ''[[l'Unità]]''.<ref name="mitchell-56">Mitchell 1999, p. 56. Fo declared [[Anton Chekhov]] and [[George Bernard Shaw]] to be his favourite playwrights in 1954.</ref> ''Il dito nell'occhio'' consisted of 21 sketches similar in style to ''Poer nano'' but dealing instead with a satirical history of the world.<ref name="mitchell-56"/> The last performance, in which Fo played a supporting role, was a box-office success and went on tour after 113 performances at Milan's [[Piccolo Teatro (Milan)|Piccolo Teatro]].<ref name="mitchell-56"/><ref name="mitchell-57">Mitchell 1999, p. 57</ref> 1953 also brought the beginning of Fo's songwriting. He collaborated with [[Fiorenzo Carpi]]; all of Fo's plays as far as 1967 would feature Carpi's music. "La luna è una lampadina" ("The moon is a lightbulb"), their first song, is one of Fo's most famous.<ref name="mitchell-57"/>

Fo met [[Franca Rame]], daughter of a theatrical family, when they were working in the revue ''Sette giorni a Milano''. They became engaged, and married on 24 June 1954. They had a son, Jacopo (born 31 March 1955), who would also become a writer.<ref name="mitchell-55"/>

With the break-up of I dritti due to financial failure, Fo and family moved to [[Rome]] where he hoped to gain work as a screenwriter in the cinema.<ref name="mitchell-59">Mitchell 1999, p. 59</ref> There they lived next door to [[Roberto Rossellini]] and [[Ingrid Bergman]].<ref name="mitchell-59"/> Fo worked on many productions, including those of [[Dino De Laurentiis]]. Rame worked in Teatro Stabile of Bolzano. In 1956, Fo co-wrote and acted with Rame in the [[Carlo Lizzani]]'s film ''[[Lo svitato]]'' (''The screwball''), influenced by [[Jacques Tati]], [[Buster Keaton]] and [[Charlie Chaplin]]. In the film, Fo plays "a disoriented hotel porter cast adrift in a neo-capitalist Milan of skyscrapers and modern technology".<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 59–60</ref> Other films followed.

In 1958, the couple returned to Milan when Rame was offered roles in a series of farces at the Arlecchino Theatre.<ref name="mitchell-60"/> Fo and Rame were subsequently based there.<ref name="mitchell-60">Mitchell 1999, p. 60</ref> Fo said, "For me the lesson of the cinema meant learning from a technical point of view what audiences had already grasped: a story divided into sequences, a fast pace, sharp dialogue, and getting rid of the conventions of space and time. Working on screenplays gave me an apprenticeship as a playwright and I was able to transfer the lessons of the new technical means to the theatre".<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 60–61</ref>

The foundation of the Compagnia Fo-Rame dates from this time. Fo wrote scripts, acted, directed, and designed costumes and stage paraphernalia. Rame took care of the administration. The company débuted at the Piccolo Teatro, and in 1959 began a series of six full-length plays that were performed each season at the Teatro Odeon.<ref name="mitchell-65"/> One of these, ''Gli arcangeli non giocano al flipper'' (''[[Archangels Don't Play Pinball]]''), brought Fo and Rame national and, later, international recognition. It would be the first Fo play to be performed outside Italy&mdash;in [[Yugoslavia]], [[Poland]], the [[Netherlands]], [[Sweden]] and [[Spain]].<ref name="mitchell-65">Mitchell 1999, p. 65</ref> Other successes would follow.

===1960s===
In 1962, Fo wrote and directed a variety show, ''[[Canzonissima]]'', for [[RAI]]. Fo used the show to give Italians a glimpse of a type of television resembling the origins of theatre, far removed from the "junk TV" previously produced by the company.<ref name="Mitchell 7273"/> ''Canzonissima'' featured satirical songs and sketches depicting the lives of the working classes. However, it was frequently censored. One sketch featured a fat aunt who came to visit her nephew at his workplace (a canned meat factory) only to fall into a machine and come out as mincemeat, which the nephew retained in a cupboard at home and often displayed to friends: this led to complaints from canned meat producers and "industrialists in general"—though none from aunts, Fo later observed.<ref name="Mitchell 7273">Mitchell 1999, pp. 72–73</ref> Nonetheless ''Canzonissima'' proved popular, attracting millions of viewers, and Rame maintained that taxi drivers in Italian cities would often say they had no work during broadcasts as everyone was watching it.<ref name="Mitchell 7273"/><ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 74–75</ref>

The show's eighth episode&mdash;which referenced the dangerous conditions faced by workers on building sites&mdash;led to a dispute with the programme's producers, and prompted Fo and Rame to walk out on 29 November 1962. RAI maintained it would not broadcast the sketch as it risked further inflaming the annoyance of building workers' unions at working conditions. National uproar ensued over this censorship, with headlines in the daily newspapers and questions in the Italian parliament. RAI sued Fo and Rame and destroyed all the ''Canzonissima'' recordings. The dispute led to the effective banning of Fo and Rame from Italian television for 14 years.<ref name="Mitchell 7273"/>

[[File:Dario Fo and Franca Rame with their son Jacopo.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Fo with his wife Franca Rame and their son Jacopo]]
Fo returned to Milan's Teatro Odeon with the play ''Isabella, tre caravelle e un cacciaballe'' (''[[Isabella, Three Sailing Ships and a Con Man]]''), considered "an attempt to demystify and debunk the traditional history-book image" of [[Christopher Columbus]]. Fo said: "I wanted to attack those Italian intellectuals who, with the centre-left and the Socialist Party in the government, had discovered power and its advantages and leapt on it like rats on a piece of cheese. I wanted to dismantle a character who had been embalmed as a hero in school history books, whereas he is in fact an intellectual who tries to keep afloat within the mechanisms of power, play games with the King and be cunning with power figures, only to end up reduced to a wretch."<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 75</ref> Fo received threatening letters, was assaulted in Rome with Rame by [[Fascism|fascist]] groups who also threw rubbish at them, while another performance was disrupted by a bomb scare.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 76</ref> He later recounted this event in the prologue of ''[[Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas]]''.

''La signora è da buttare'' (''[[Throw the Lady Out]]'') was the final play Fo put on in the mainstream establishment Italian theatre.<ref name="mitchell-85"/> Performed in 1967, it contained topical references to the [[Vietnam War]], [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] and the [[John F. Kennedy assassination|assassination of John F. Kennedy]]. The play prompted the first English-language piece of criticism on Fo's work by U.S. critic A. Richard Sogliuzzo in 1972.<ref name="mitchell-85">Mitchell 1999, p. 85</ref> He interpreted the titular lady as "representing American capitalism [... and who just before her death] was elevated above a sink in a [[Statue of Liberty]] pose, and then ascended to a heaven packed with consumer goods".<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 86</ref> The [[Federal government of the United States|U.S. government]] would later consistently deny Fo entry under the now-defunct [[McCarran-Walter Act]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.mla.org/About-Us/Governance/Executive-Council/Executive-Council-Actions/2013/Statement-on-the-Importance-of-Unrestricted-Travel-for-Scholarly-Exchange |title=Statement on the Importance of Unrestricted Travel for Scholarly Exchange |author=Modern Language Association of America Executive Council |date=February 2013 |access-date=2021-02-12 |quote="Thus the United States repeatedly denied an entry visa to the Italian playwright Dario Fo, who was not a member of the Italian Communist Party but a severe critic of Soviet censorship of his work."}}</ref>

Inspired by the events of [[May 1968 protests in France|May 1968 in France]], Fo and Rame abandoned the official state theatre in Italy and set up Associazione Nuova Scena, a theatre collective operating outside the state structure.<ref name="mitchell-89">Mitchell 1999, p. 89</ref> They asked the PCI for assistance and access to community centres and workers' clubs.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 90</ref> In October 1968, they toured Fo's latest play ''Grande pantomima con bandiere e pupazzi piccoli e medi'' (''[[Grand Pantomime with Flags and Small and Middle-sized Puppets]]''), opening in [[Cesena]]. The play, which featured masks instead of characters—representing Capital, the Confederation of Industry, High Finance, the Church, the People, Rebels and Peasants—included a giant puppet representing fascism which gave birth to representatives of the Church, the Monarchy, the Army and Industrialism.<ref name="mitchell-91-92">Mitchell 1999, pp. 91–92</ref> ''L'operaio conosce 300 parole, il padrone 1,000: per questo lui è il padrone'' (''[[The Worker Knows 300 Words, the Boss Knows 1000, That's Why He's the Boss]]''), ''Legami pure che tanto io spacco tutto lo stesso'' (''[[Chain Me Up and I'll Still Smash Everything]]'') and ''[[Mistero Buffo]]'' (''Comical Mystery Play''), also date from this time.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 93–94</ref> Though Fo himself had never been a Communist Party member,<ref name="mitchell-89"/> his open criticism of PCI methods and policies on the stage led to conflict with the Party.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 95–98</ref>

===1970s===
In 1970, Fo and Rame began their third theatre group, ''Collettivo Teatrale "La Comune"'' with the musician Paolo Ciarchi and the administrator Nanni Ricordi.<ref name="mitchell-99">Mitchell 1999, p. 99</ref> They based themselves at an abandoned workshop (''capannone'') in via Colletta in a working-class suburb of Milan for three years, converting it into a sort of community centre and producing plays based on improvisation about contemporary issues. One such play was ''Vorrei morire stasera se dovessi pensare che non è servito a niente'' (''[[I'd Rather Die Tonight If I Had To Think It Had All Been In Vain]]''). Inspired by the [[Black September in Jordan|Black September]], with the title derived from a [[Renata Viganò]] poem, thousands of people came to see it.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 99–100</ref>

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What followed was ''Morte accidentale di un anarchico'' (''[[Accidental Death of an Anarchist]]''), Fo's most internationally recognised play, described by the playwright as "a grotesque farce about a tragic farce".<ref name="mitchell-101">Mitchell 1999, p. 101</ref> It opened in December 1970,<ref name="mitchell-101"/> Fo having written it after right-wing extremists and the Italian Secret Service carried out a "terrorist" attack on the [[Banca Nazionale dell'Agricoltura]] in [[Piazza Fontana]] in Milan in 1969.<ref name="mitchell-99"/>  (See: [[Strategy of tension]].) This farce subsequently toured Italy with ''Tutti uniti! Tutti insieme! Ma scusa, quello non è il padrone?'' (''[[United We Stand! All Together Now! Oops, Isn't That the Boss?]]''), considered by Rame to be Fo's best work apart from ''Morte accidentale'' and ''Mistero buffo''.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 115</ref> ''Morte e resurezione di un pupazzo'' (''[[Death and Resurrection of a Puppet]]'') was an updated version of ''Grande pantomima''.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 117</ref> ''[[Fedayn]]'', first performed in January 1972, it consists of a series of autobiographical accounts from [[Palestinian territories|Palestine]].<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 119</ref>

In March 1973, five fascists, commissioned—according to some rumors—by high-ranking officials in Milan's [[Carabinieri]], abducted Rame, held her at gunpoint and dumped her in a van. They raped her, beat her, burnt her with cigarettes, slashed her with razor blades and left her in a park.<ref>{{cite news |first=Beret |last=Kuennecke |url=http://www.socialistreview.org.uk/article.php?articlenumber=7952 |title=Resistance Takes Centre Stage |work=Review |date=April 2002}} Review of 'Harlequins of the Revolution', Joseph Farrell, Methuen, which mentions the rape.</ref><ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 122</ref> Fo and Rame continued to tour around Lombardy and [[Veneto]] throughout that year, despite a split in ''La Comune''; the short piece ''[[Mamma Togni]]'' dates from this time.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 123–124</ref>

In September 1973, after the suicide of [[Salvador Allende]] in [[Chile]], ''Guerra di popolo in Cile'' (''[[The People's War in Chile]]'') was produced, and toured the country attracting great interest. This was particularly due to a part at the end that unnerved audiences, who thought a coup had been declared across Italy. According to Chiara Valentini, a member of the audience panicked during a performance in [[Turin]] and ate ten pages of what he thought might be compromising names, while in [[Merano]] a student broke the glass in an attempt to flee through a window.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 125–126</ref> The actual police arrested Fo in [[Sassari]] in November 1973, leading to nationwide uproar when it emerged that under Italian law the police could not enter the theatre during the performance; the outcry served only to boost attendances at future performances.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 126–127</ref>

[[File:Dario Fo2.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Dario Fo in 1976]]
In 1974, the company—which had now become ''Il Collettivo Teatrale "La Comune" diretto da Dario Fo''—occupied and cleaned up an abandoned market building in [[Porta Vittoria]] (a working-class area of Milan) and dubbed it the Palazzina Liberty.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 128</ref> Political enmities intervened however, and Milan's council tried to remove them by court order. The council was unsuccessful; the company was allowed to stay temporarily and set about developing facilities such as a library, conference centre, theatre and audiovisual workshops. They began performing with ''Porta e Belli contro il potere'' (''[[Porta and Belli Against the Authorities]]''), in which Fo read sonnets by the two titular 19th-century poets, described by him as "splendid texts, and when I recited them individually they worked marvellously, but not altogether in the same show."<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 129</ref>

Next came the farce, ''Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!'' (''[[Can't Pay? Won't Pay!]]''), documenting the ''autoriduzione'' (self-reduction) movement which had developed during the severe economic crisis Italy was experiencing, and in which people would take what they wished from markets, only paying for what they could afford. Regarded as Fo's best-known play internationally after ''Morte accidentale di un anarchico'', it had been performed in 35 countries by 1990.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 130</ref> The title ''Can't Pay? Won't Pay!'' has also passed into the English language.<ref name=lyn_gardner_guardian_pay>{{cite news |first=Lyn |last=Gardner |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2010/apr/18/low-pay-dont-pay-review |title=Low Pay? Don't Pay! |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=18 April 2010 |access-date=18 April 2010}}</ref>

To the backdrop of the [[1975 Italian regional elections|June 1975 Italian elections]], Fo wrote ''Il Fanfani rapito'' (''[[Fanfani Kidnapped]]'')—a reference to [[Amintore Fanfani]].<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 139–140</ref> Also in June 1975, Fo, Rame and other members of the company went to China—Fo later used his recollections of the trip in the monologue ''La storia della tigre'' (''[[The Tale of a Tiger]]''), with which he toured around Italy in 1978.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 142–143</ref><ref name="mitchell-157"/>

The same year (1975) Fo was nominated for the [[Nobel Prize]] for the first time. He thought the idea absurd: "I have become famous for my aversion to figures of reverence and genuflections of any kind. This Nobel business is a real comedy. I can imagine the look on the faces of certain state officials, magistrates and politicians I know. They take great pains to shut me up and clap me in handcuffs, and the Swedes go and play a trick like this ... [Receiving the prize] would be like acting in one of my plays."<ref name="mitchell-xiv">Mitchell 1999, p. xiv</ref><ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 139</ref>

Fo next turned to Italy's growing drug problem, summing it up as follows: "Rich people consume and use drugs, while poor people are used and consumed by drugs."<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 144</ref> ''La marijuana della mamma è la più bella'' (''{{Interlanguage link|Mother's Marijuana is the Best|it|3=La marijuana della mamma è la più bella}}'') features a character called Grandpa who mistakenly swallows [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]] instead of [[aspirin]] and hallucinates a farcical tram journey in his wardrobe ending at a police station.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 145</ref> Fiorenzo Carpi returned to collaborate with Fo on the play's music, the first time they had worked together since 1967.<ref name="mitchell-146">Mitchell 1999, p. 146</ref>

Fo returned to television in 1977 after 14 years off the air, RAI's administration having been changed following the [[1976 Italian general election|previous year's general election]]. Fo was, however, limited to [[Rai 2]], the second channel, which had a more socialist and non-religious slant than the more conservative [[Rai 1]]. Two cycles of his plays were broadcast; for political reasons these did not include ''Morte accidentale di un anarchico'', ''Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!'' or ''Il Fanfani rapito'' (although La Commune filmed them to have a permanent record of them).<ref name="mitchell-146"/> The Vatican still denounced ''Mistero buffo'' as "the most blasphemous show in the history of television".<ref name="mitchell-3"/> A new play for the TV series, ''Parliamo di donne'' (''[[Let's Talk About Women]]''), focused on topics such as [[abortion]], [[sexism]] and the [[Holy Family]].<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 147</ref>

A series of five monologues collectively titled ''Tutta casa, letto e chiesa'' (''[[All House, Bed and Church]]'') also first appeared in 1977, and were performed by Rame. The first, ''Il risveglio'' (''[[Waking Up (play)|Waking Up]]''), featured a working-class mother talking to her baby (a doll). ''Una donna tutta sola'' (''[[A Woman Alone (play)|A Woman Alone]]'') was about a housewife locked indoors by her husband who had to deal with a crying baby while fighting off the advances of his disabled, wheelchair-using, pornographic-film-obsessed brother, a man with a telescope, an obscene telephone caller and a former teacher who has fallen in love with her.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 148–149</ref> ''La mamma fricchettona'' (''[[Freak Mother]]'') featured a mother taking shelter in a church confessional after leaving her family to pursue drugs and [[free love]].<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 150</ref> ''[[The Same Old Story (play)|The Same Old Story]]'' features a little girl with a doll who swears.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 150–151</ref> The final monologue, ''[[Medea (Fo play)|Medea]]'', based on an Italian version rather than the more famous [[Euripides]] version, had been performed in 35 countries by 1990.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}}

===1980s===
[[File:Dario Fo in Venice Film Festival 02.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Dario Fo in [[Venice]], 1985]]
In 1980, the United States authorities blocked Fo and Rame from performing at the country's Festival of Italian Theatre, an act which has been compared with the country's similar treatment of [[Bertolt Brecht]], [[Charlie Chaplin]] and [[Gabriel García Márquez]].<ref name="mitchell-162"/> In May that year, "An Evening Without Dario Fo and Franca Rame", held in New York, was attended by [[Arthur Miller]], [[Bernard Malamud]], [[Richard Foreman]] and [[Martin Scorsese]]. The event featured a reading in English of the first act of ''Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!'' and a letter (read by Piero Sciotto) written by Fo and Rame.<ref name="mitchell-162">Mitchell 1999, p. 162</ref> The [[American Theatre Critics Association]] sent a letter to the politician, [[Edmund Muskie]].<ref name="mitchell-162"/> In December 1980, Fo was on stage in France for his own show untitled "Histoire du tigre et autres histoires" (Tiger Story & other stories).<ref>"Dario Fo met un tigre dans son théâtre", [[Jean-Pierre Thiollet]], ''[[Le Quotidien de Paris]]'', 2 December 1980.</ref>

In 1981, with La Commune having been evicted from the Palazzina Liberty, a second version of ''Tutta casa, letto e chiesa'' opened at the Teatro Odeon, the first time in 16 years that Fo and Rame performed there.<ref name="mitchell-157">Mitchell 1999, p. 157</ref> Also that year (January) ''Clacson, trombette e pernacchi'' (''[[Trumpets and Raspberries]]'') was first performed at Milan's Cinema Cristallo, and was Fo's first new play since ''La marijuana della mamma è la più bella'' five years previously.<ref name="mitchell-163">Mitchell 1999, p. 163</ref> 50,000 people saw it performed 34 times in Milan, and it had soon been produced in 15 other countries.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 166</ref><ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 168</ref>

In 1983, Italian censors restricted ''Coppia aperta, quasi spalancata'' (''[[The Open Couple]]'') to audiences over the age of 18 when Rame included as a prologue her monologue ''The Rape'' (inspired by her own rape).<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 172</ref><ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 176–177</ref> ''Il candelaio'' (''The Candlestickmaker''), a monologue written by Fo in 1983, displayed Fo's increased interest in the English Elizabethan Theatre, and preceded ''Quasi per caso una donna: Elisabetta'' (''[[Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman]]''), which Fo and Rame began work on in late 1984.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 177</ref><ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 182</ref>

In September 1983, the U.S. authorities again refused Fo and Rame permission to enter the nation, and, to Fo's bewilderment, accused them of "belonging to organisations supporting terrorist groups."<ref name="mitchell-162"/> At this time Fo was the foreign writer whose plays were most widely produced in the United States.<ref name="mitchell-162"/> Famed producer [[Joseph Papp]] sent a telegram in their behalf to U.S. President [[Ronald Reagan]], himself a former actor, but to no avail. Fo and Rame began a lawsuit against the [[United States Department of State|U.S. State Department]], pledging any damages received to sacked workers and occupied workplaces, the disabled, families of prisoners and other favorite causes.

Fo called a press conference in Milan to explain the grave offence U.S. authorities had caused himself and his wife: "We are Italian citizens who are supposed to have committed the crime of aiding and abetting terrorists in Italy. The Italian judicial authorities, however have never charged us or even made inquiries [...] nor have they accused us of any support of terrorism: in any case our position on the subject is well known. Now the Americans arrive on the scene and decide that we support terrorists, which means either that the Italian judicial authorities aren't doing their job or that they are in complicity with us."<ref name="mitchell-163"/>

1985 brought ''Hellequin, Harlekin, Arlecchino''&mdash;based on [[Harlequin]].<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 188–189</ref> 1986 brought ''{{Interlanguage link|Kidnapping Francesca|it|3=Il ratto della Francesca}}'', in which bankrupt banker Francesca Bollini de Rill has herself kidnapped to divert from her imminent arrest—adapted as ''Abducting Diana'' in 1994 by [[Stephen Stenning]] for English audiences.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 192–194</ref> Appointed Professor of Drama at the University of Rome, the seminars Fo conducted there included ones on; Harlequin and the ''commedia dell'arte''.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 194</ref>

[[File:Dario Fo in Alcatraz (Gubbio) 01.jpg|thumb|right|250px|Dario Fo in [[Gubbio]], 1988]]
The pre-Christmas 1987 performance of ''[[The First Miracle of the Infant Jesus]]'' on Italian television's variety-lottery show ''[[Fantastico (variety show)|Fantastico]]'' led to further accusations of blasphemy from the Vatican; Fo portrayed the titular character deploying bolts of lightning to save other children from a bully.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 195</ref> For the first time in 26 years, in April and May 1988, Fo and Rame collaborated on an original project, ''Transmissione forzata'' (''Forced Transmission'') on Italian television. Restricted to [[Rai 3]], the series featured ironic songs about RAI censorship and Italian politicians, dancing girls and satirical news bulletins, a ballet on Palestine and a "weather report" on national rape statistics.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 195–196</ref> Also in 1988, Fo returned to film acting for the first time since 1958, playing a retired professor in ''Musica per vecchi animali'' (''Music for Old Animals'').<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 196</ref>

In 1989, in solidarity with those affected by the [[Tiananmen Square Massacre]], Fo updated ''La storia della tigre'' and wrote two monologues ''Lettera dalla Cina'' (''[[Letter from China]]'') and ''[[The Story of Qu]]''. The same year, Fo also wrote ''Il ricercato'' (''[[The Wanted Man (play)|The Wanted Man]]''), an unperformed play about the mafia, and ''Il Papa e la strega'' (''[[The Pope and the Witch]]''), which debuted in late October.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 197</ref> The latter portrayed a Pope overcome both by a phobia of being attacked by children and by an attack of arthritis which leaves his arms raised in blessing, and who, acting upon the advice of a woman disguised as a nun and claiming to be a witch, swings from a chandelier and injects himself with heroin during his search for a cure, and avoids various assassination attempts involving a toy car, poisoned parrot and Brazilian nun.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 198–199</ref> Critics praised its comic inventiveness and it won an award for being the play seen by most people in Italy that season.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 200</ref>

===1990s===
Addressing themes such as [[AIDS]], the [[Gulf War]] and [[Genetic engineering|genetic experiment]]s, Fo wrote ''Zitti! Stiamo precipitando!'' (''[[Hush! We're Falling!]]'') in summer 1990, and it debuted at Milan's Teatro Nuovo that November.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 203</ref> The titular character of ''[[Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas]]'', Fo's response to the 1992 quincentennial celebrations of the first voyage of Christopher Columbus to the Americas, is a Venetian fugitive who escapes from the [[Spanish Inquisition]] by joining the explorer and coloniser's fourth voyage. Forced to tend the animals on board, a storm casts him adrift in the ocean on the back of a pig until he reaches the coast and is rescued by the [[indigenous peoples of the Americas]].<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 210–211</ref> A video recording of Fo's performance exists.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 214</ref>

1993 brought an important anniversary of [[Carlo Goldoni]]; Fo, who was unimpressed, and, choosing instead to focus his attention on [[Angelo Beolco]], planned a joint production between his company and Teatro dei Incamminati, a publicly funded company. However, with rehearsals well underway, a ministerial letter arrived to block the project's completion with "an obscure law forbidding co-productions between public and private companies."<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 218–219</ref>

{{multiple image
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Fo and Rame collaborated on the monologue ''Settimo: ruba un po' meno no. 2'' (''[[Seventh Commandment: Steal a Bit Less No. 2]]''), inspired by the corruption scandals ([[Tangentopoli]]) which were rife in Italy during the 1990s.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 216</ref> They later performed ''Mamma! I sanculotti!'' (''[[Mummy! The Sans-culottes!]]''), set in the eighteenth century but also making references to the Tangentopoli, and featuring music again by Fiorenzo Carpi.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 221–222</ref>

For the 1994 monologue ''Sesso? Grazie, tanto per gradire!'' (''[[Sex? Thanks, Don't Mind If I Do!]]''), Fo and Rame worked with their son Jacopo to produce a performance based on Jacopo's 1992 book ''Lo Zen e l'arte di scopare'' (''[[Zen and the Art of Fucking]]''), featuring educational pieces on topics such as AIDS, contraception, sex education and sexual repression.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 223</ref> Thus came Fo's first run-in with the new government of [[Silvio Berlusconi]]. Berlusconi's government banned Italians under the age of 18 from seeing it over fears, it said, that the play could "cause offence to the common decency which requires respect for spheres of decency, and provoke distress among adolescent spectators, with possible effects on their behaviour in relation to sex", thus defeating the original purpose of the performance. Much free publicity ensued, with the censorship issue being debated in the national parliament, teachers calling for it to be performed, and audiences and both Italian and foreign intellectuals signing a petition calling for the ban to be overturned.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 225</ref>

On 17 July 1995, Fo had a stroke. He quickly recovered and was well again by his seventieth birthday on 24 March 1996.<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 226</ref> In summer 1996, he wrote ''[[Leonardo: The Flight, the Count and the Amours]]''. Set in 1502, the titular character of the play was [[Leonardo da Vinci]].<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 227</ref> In 1997, he wrote ''Il diavolo con le zinne'' (''[[The Devil with Boobs]]''). Described by Fo as "a [[Niccolò Machiavelli|Machiavellian]] comedy, a gigantic late sixteenth-century intrigue, with judges and devils, housekeepers possessed by devils, hermits, gendarmes, torturers and even a monkey", it featured an homage to Fiorenzo Carpi who had died earlier that year.<ref>Mitchell 1999, pp. 227–229</ref>

===21st century===
[[File:Dario Fo-Cesena.jpg|thumb|left|180px|Dario Fo in [[Cesena]]]]
In 2001, Fo became [[Satrap]] of the Collège de ‘Pataphysique.{{citation needed|date=October 2016}} In 2004, [[Forza Italia (1994)|Forza Italia]] senator [[Marcello Dell'Utri]], on trial at the time for money laundering, sued Fo over references to him in his latest play. Fo was disgusted: "I have been doing satire for 40 years. It is paradox. It is grotesque."<ref>{{cite news |first=Sophie |last=Arie |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jan/14/italy.arts |title=Dario Fo sued for €1m over play lampooning PM: Nobel-winning playwright accused of 'persecution' |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=14 January 2004 |access-date=14 January 2004}}</ref> The play, titled ''The Two-Headed Anomaly'' and first performed in 2003, also poked fun at the shortness of then prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, had him strapped to a chair and given electric shock treatment and portrayed [[Vladimir Putin]] being shot dead by Chechen rebels while visiting Berlusconi's luxury villa in [[Sicily]]. The title refers to the subsequent transplanting of Putin's brain into Berlusconi's head, and the play was performed amid debate over Berlusconi's business and political interests and media censorship, with RAI having barred Italian satirists [[Sabina Guzzanti]] and [[Paolo Rossi (actor)|Paolo Rossi]] from its television channels.<ref>{{cite news |first=Sophie |last=Arie |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2003/dec/07/italy.arts |title=Comic Fo exposes Berlusconi's flaws |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=7 December 2003 |access-date=7 December 2003}}</ref> Fo spoke of receiving threats from politicians if he performed it.<ref>{{cite news |first=Tamsin |last=Smith |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3294693.stm |title=Fo's play gives Berlusconi a roasting |work=[[BBC News]] |date=5 December 2003 |access-date=5 December 2003}}</ref>

[[File:Dario fo.JPG|thumb|right|250px|Dario Fo in 2007]]
In 2005, Fo revealed plans to run for [[List of mayors of Milan|Mayor of Milan]], the most economically important city in Italy, the following year. He said it was part of his ongoing fight to rid Milan of Berlusconi's political colleague [[Gabriele Albertini]], the incumbent mayor.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4350346.stm |title=Playwright Fo reveals mayoral aim |work=[[BBC News]] |date=17 October 2005 |access-date=17 October 2005}}</ref> Ostracised by Italian television (both state—RAI having shunted his latest show off to a [[graveyard slot]]—and commercial—three quarters owned by Fo's long-time adversary Berlusconi), Fo instead elected to campaign on stage.<ref>{{cite news |first=John |last=Hooper |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2005/dec/02/theatre.italy |title=Dario for mayor! |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=2 December 2005 |access-date=2 December 2005}}</ref> Under the slogan "I am not a moderate", he opposed the centre-right administration's plans to demolish parts of the city centre and vowed to chase out those "money-grabbing bastards who have run this city for decades".<ref>{{cite news |first=Barbara |last=McMahon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jan/30/books.italy |title=Dario Fo makes a splash in bid to run Milan |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=30 January 2006 |access-date=30 January 2006}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |first=Mark |last=Duff |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4659084.stm |title=Playwright Fo faces Milan voters |work=[[BBC News]] |date=29 January 2006 |access-date=29 January 2006}}</ref> Securing 23.4% of the vote in the [[Primary elections in Italy|primary election]] of centre-left [[The Union (political coalition)|The Union]] in January 2006, he was ultimately unsuccessful, finishing second to Milan's former police chief [[Bruno Ferrante]].<ref>{{cite news |first=Barbara |last=McMahon |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2006/jan/31/italy.mainsection |title=Dario Fo loses contest to run for Milan mayoralty |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=31 January 2006 |access-date=31 January 2006}}</ref>

Throughout the early 21st century until his death in 2016, Fo remained an active participant and campaigner on various political, social and cultural issues, most of all the populist [[Five Star Movement]].<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2011/03/11330 |title=Fo is still the enemy of power and corruption (an interview with Daniel Jakopovich) |work=The Tribune |date=March 2011 |access-date=14 October 2016 |archive-date=13 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161013220709/http://www.tribunemagazine.co.uk/2011/03/11330/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> He questioned the official accounts of the [[September 11 attacks]] and the [[collapse of the World Trade Center]] buildings in the film, ''Zero: An Investigation into 9/11''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.zerofilm.info |title=Zero |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080623202839/http://www.zerofilm.info/ |archive-date=2008-06-23 }}</ref> In 2008, he was among the signatories of an open letter to ''[[la Repubblica]]'' which called on the state to protect [[Roberto Saviano]],  whose life was under threat after exposing the clandestine activities of the [[Camorra]] in his 2006 book ''[[Gomorrah (book)|Gomorrah]]''.<ref>{{cite news |first=Alison |last=Flood |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/oct/24/mcewan-mafia-saviano-extremists |title=Ian McEwan condemns 'thuggery' of Neapolitan mafia |newspaper=[[The Guardian]] |date=24 October 2008 |access-date=24 October 2008}}</ref> Ahead of the [[2013 Italian general election]], Fo explained that the most recent targets of his satire included: "The banks mostly, and the big entrepreneurs. All those who hold the reins of 'the show within a show', i.e. those who – through the media, television and in other ways – make every effort to ensure that the people accept the conditions they find themselves in."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.euronews.com/2013/02/21/dario-fo-what-had-taken-centuries-to-create-in-italy-was-degraded-in-a-very/ |title=What took centuries to create in Italy was degraded in a very short time |work=[[euronews]] |date=21 February 2013 |access-date=21 February 2013}}</ref>

===Death===
On 13 October 2016 Fo died at the age of 90 due to a serious respiratory disease which had previously forced him to recover for 12 days in the Luigi Sacco hospital in Milan.

==List of works==
{{Div col}}
* 1958 – ''Un morto da vendere'' (''[[Corpse for Sale]]'')
* 1958 – ''Non tutti i ladri vengono a nuocere'' (''[[The Virtuous Burglar]]'')
* 1959 – ''Gli arcangeli non giocano al flipper'' (''[[Archangels Don't Play Pinball]]'')
* 1960 – ''Aveva due pistole con gli occhi bianchi e neri'' (''[[He Had Two Pistols with White and Black Eyes]]'')
* 1961 – ''Chi ruba un piede è fortunato in amore'' (''[[He Who Steals a Foot is Lucky in Love]]'')
* 1963 – ''Isabella, tre caravelle e un cacciballe'' (''[[Isabella, Three Tall Ships, and a Con Man]]'')
* 1967 – ''La signora è da buttare'' (''[[Throw the Lady Out]]'')
* 1968 – ''Grande pantomima con bandiere e pupazzi piccoli i medi'' (''[[Grand Pantomime with Flags and Small and Middle-sized Puppets]]'')
** Later updated as ''Morte e resurezione di un pupazzo'' (''[[Death and Resurrection of a Puppet]]'')
* 1969 – ''[[Mistero Buffo]]'' (''Comical mystery'')
* 1969 – ''L'operaio conosce 300 parole, il padrone 1,000: per questo lui è il padrone'' (''[[The Worker Knows 300 Words, the Boss Knows 1000, That's Why He's the Boss]]'')
* 1969 – ''Legame pure che tanto io spacco tutto lo stesso'' (''[[Chain Me Up and I'll Still Smash Everything]]'')
* 1970 – ''Vorrei morire stasera se dovessi pensare che non è servito a niente'' (''[[I'd Rather Die Tonight If I Had To Think It Had All Been In Vain]]'')
* 1970 – ''Morte accidentale di un anarchico'' (''[[Accidental Death of an Anarchist]]'')
* 1971 – ''Tutti uniti! Tutti insieme! Ma scusa, quello non è il padrone?'' (''[[United We Stand! All Together Now! Oops, Isn't That the Boss?]]'')
* 1972 – ''[[Fedayn]]''
** ''[[An Arab Woman Speaks]]'' (from ''Fedayn'')
* 1973 – ''[[Mamma Togni]]''
* 1973 – ''Guerra di popolo in Cile'' (''[[The People's War in Chile]]'')
* 1974 – ''Porta e Belli contro il potere'' (''[[Porta and Belli Against the Authorities]]'')
* 1974 – ''Non Si Paga! Non Si Paga!'' (''[[Can't Pay? Won't Pay!]]'')
* 1975 – ''Il Fanfani rapito'' (''[[Fanfani Kidnapped]]'')
* 1976 – ''La marijuana della mamma è la più bella'' (''[[Mother's Marijuana is the Best]]'')
* 1977 – ''Parliamo di donne'' (''Let's Talk About Women'')
* 1977 – ''Tutta casa, letto e chiesa'' (''[[All House, Bed and Church]]'', series of five monologues)
** ''Il risveglio'' (''[[Waking Up (play)|Waking Up]]'')
** ''Una donna tutta sola'' (''[[A Woman Alone (play)|A Woman Alone]]'', title changed to ''Adult Orgasm Escapes from the Zoo'' for a 1983 performance)
** ''La mamma fricchettona'' (''[[Freak Mother]]'')
** ''[[The Same Old Story (play)|The Same Old Story]]''
** ''[[Medea (Fo play)|Medea]]''
* 1977 – ''l’Uomo incinto'' (''[[The pregnant man]]'') [https://web.archive.org/web/20140812091520/http://www.ridipagliaccio.it/index_file/Page741.htm]
* 1978 – ''La storia della tigre'' (''[[The Tale of a Tiger]]'')
* 1981 – ''Clacson, trombette e pernacchi'' (''[[Trumpets and Raspberries]]'')
* 1982 - ''Tomorrow's News Today''<ref>{{cite news |last1=Edelstein |first1=David |title=The basement tapes |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_boston-phoenix_1982-11-02_11_44/page/5/mode/1up |access-date=September 29, 2024 |work=The Boston Phoenix |date=November 2, 1982}}</ref>
* 1983 – ''Coppia aperta, quasi spalancata'' (''[[The Open Couple]]'')
** ''Lo stupro'' (''The Rape'')
* 1983 – ''Il candelaio'' (''The Candlestickmaker'')
* 1984 – ''Quasi per caso una donna: Elisabetta'' (''[[Elizabeth: Almost by Chance a Woman]]'')
* 1985 – ''Manuale minimo dell'attore'' (''[[The Tricks of the Trade]]'', 1991)<ref>{{cite book |first=Dario |last=Fo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=akEJ9Ew9GaoC |title=The tricks of the trade |publisher=Routledge |year=1991 |isbn=0-87830-008-2}}</ref>
* 1985 – ''Hellequin, Harlekin, Arlecchino''
* 1986 – ''[[Abducting Francesca]]'' (adapted in English as ''Abducting Diana'' by [[Stephen Stenning]], 1994)
* 1987 – ''[[The First Miracle of the Infant Jesus]]''
* 1989 – ''Lettera dalla Cina'' (''[[Letter from China]]'')
* 1989 – ''[[The Story of Qu]]''
* 1989 – ''Il ricercato'' (''[[The Wanted Man (play)|The Wanted Man]]'', unperformed)
* 1989 – ''Il Papa e la strega'' (''[[The Pope and the Witch]]'')
* 1990 – ''Zitti! Stiamo precipitando!'' (''[[Hush! We're Falling!]]'')
* 1992 – ''[[Johan Padan and the Discovery of the Americas]]''
* 1992 – ''Settimo: ruba un po' meno no. 2'' (''[[Seventh Commandment: Steal a Bit Less No. 2]]'')
* 1993 – ''Mamma! I sanculotti!'' (''[[Mummy! The Sans-culottes!]]'')
* 1994 – ''Sesso? Grazie, tanto per gradire!'' (''[[Sex? Thanks, Don't Mind If I Do!]]'')
* 1995 – ''[[Leonardo: The Flight, the Count and the Amours]]''
* 1997 – ''Il diavolo con le zinne'' (''[[The Devil with Boobs]]'')
* 2002 - ''Il paese dei Mezaràt'' (''[[Meine ersten sieben Jahre und ein paar dazu]])<ref>Translation 2004 by Peter O. Chotjewitz; published by Kiepenheuer & Witsch. ISBN 3-462-03365-4</ref>''
* 2003 – ''[[The Two-Headed Anomaly]]''
* 2009 – ''[[Francis the Holy Jester]]''
* 2014 - ''La Figlia del Papa'' (''The Pope's Daughter'') (prose novel)
* 2015 - ''C'è un re pazzo in Danimarca'' (''There's a mad king in Denmark'')
* 2016 - ''Razza di Zingaro'' (''Gypsy Race'')

{{Div col end}}

===Date unknown===
* ''Alice in Wonderless Land''
* ''[[Housepainters Have No Memories]]''
* ''La Marcolfa'' (''[[Marcolfa]]'', late 1950s?)<ref>Mitchell 1999, p. 190</ref>
* ''La fiocinina'' (''[[The Eel Woman]]'')
* ''Fascismo 1922'' (''[[Fascism 1922]]'')
* ''[[Michele Lu Lanzone]]''
* ''[[Nadia Pasini]]''
* ''Il tumulto di Bologna'' (''[[The Tumult of Bologna]]'')
* ''La parpaja topola'' (''[[The Butterfly Mouse]]'')
* ''L'opera dello sghignazzo'' (''[[The Opera of Guffaws]]'')
* ''La nascita del giullare'' (''[[The Birth of the Jongleur]]'')
* ''[[One was Nude and One wore Tails]]''<ref>Mitchell 1999</ref>

===English translations===
* A number of Fo's plays have been translated into the English language, including ''Abducting Diana'',  and ''Francis the Holy Jester'' (Beautiful Books Limited, UK, 2009) by [[Mario Pirovano]].
* Fo, Dario: ''Francis, the Holy Jester'', Beautiful Books, 2009. {{ISBN|978-1905636716}}. translated by [[:it:Mario Pirovano|Mario Pirovano]].

==Filmography==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Year
! Title
! Role
! Notes
|-
|1954|| '' [[Red and Black (film)|Red and Black]]'' || Writer ||
|-
|1955|| ''Scuola elementare'' || Typographer ||
|-
|1956|| ''[[Lo svitato]]'' || Achille ||
|-
|1957|| ''[[Souvenirs d'Italie]]'' || Carlino || Uncredited
|-
|1957|| ''[[Rascel-Fifì]]'' || Pupo - il biondo ||
|-
|1958|| ''[[March's Child]]'' || Cantante in osteria || Uncredited
|-
|1958|| ''Domenica è sempre domenica'' || The Silk Stockings Salesman ||
|-
|1963|| ''Follie d'estate'' || Gangster ||
|-
|1989|| ''Musica per vecchi animali'' || Lucio Lucertola ||
|-
|1996|| ''[[How the Toys Saved Christmas]]'' || Scarafoni || Voice
|-
|2002|| ''Johan Padan a la descoverta de le Americhe'' || Johan Padan (veccho) || Voice
|-
|2016|| ''Sweet Democracy'' || || (final film role)
|-
|2016|| ''La fantastica storia di Marc Chagall'' || Himself ||
|-
|2017|| ''Dario Fo e Franca Rame, la nostra storia'' || Himself ||
|}

==Awards and honours==
*1981: [[Sonning Prize]] from [[Copenhagen University]]<ref name=nobel/>
*1985: [[Premio Eduardo Award]]
*1986: [[Obie Award]] in New York (with [[Franca Rame]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.obieawards.com/events/1980s/year-87/|title=Obie Awards|publisher=obieawards.com|access-date=14 October 2016}}</ref>
*1987: [[Agro Dolce Prize]]<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3E8lHbJ7H1kC&pg=PA198|title=La storia di Dario Fo|first=Chiara|last=Valentini|date=1 January 1997|publisher=Feltrinelli Editore|isbn=9788807814754|access-date=14 October 2016|via=Google Books}}</ref>
*1997: [[Nobel Prize in Literature]]<ref name=nobel>{{cite web|url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/literature/laureates/1997/bio-bibl.html|title=The Nobel Prize for Literature 1997 - Bio-bibliography|publisher=nobelprize.org|access-date=14 October 2016}}</ref>
*2001: [[Honorary doctorate]] from the [[Vrije Universiteit Brussel]], Belgium<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.vub.be/en/dhc-dario-fo|title=DHC-Dario Fo - Vrije Universiteit Brussel|publisher=vub.be|access-date=2 December 2021 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vub.ac.be/nieuws/2016/10/13/vubtoday-nobelprijswinnaar-en-vub-eredoctor-dario-fo-overleden|title=VUBToday: Nobelprijswinnaar: Dario Fo overleden|publisher=vub.ac.be|access-date=14 October 2016|language=nl|archive-date=19 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161019000323/http://www.vub.ac.be/nieuws/2016/10/13/vubtoday-nobelprijswinnaar-en-vub-eredoctor-dario-fo-overleden|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*2002: [[Order of Saint Agatha]] by the Republic of [[San Marino]]<ref>{{cite web |title=13 ottobre 2016: un anno senza Dario Fo |url=https://www.sanmarinortv.sm/news/attualita-c4/13-ottobre-2016-anno-senza-dario-fo-a54847 |website=San Marino TV |date=12 October 2017 |access-date=22 January 2021 |language=Italian}}</ref>

==Further reading==
* d'Arcangeli, Luciana, Pagliaro, Annamaria, (eds.) "Dario Fo & Franca Rame. Beyond the Rules", ''Spunti e Ricerche,'' Volume 31, 2016, published in 2017.
*d'Arcangeli, Luciana, 'Madness in the Theatre of Dario Fo and Franca Rame', in ''Forum Italicum,'' Spring 2005, pp.&nbsp;138–165.
*Emery, Ed, (ed.), ''Research Papers on the Theatre of Dario Fo and Franca Rame: Proceedings of the International Conference on the Theatre of Dario Fo and Franca Rame, Cambridge, 28–30 April 2000,'' London and Sydney, Red Notes, 2002.
*{{Cite book |first=Dario |last=Fo |title=More Tricks of the Trade |publisher=[[Methuen Publishing|Methuen]] |url=http://www.methuen.co.uk/bookdetails.aspx?value=405 |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-413-77783-6 }}
* {{Cite book |first=Pedro |last=Montalban-Kroebel|title=Dario Fo. Sindaco? / Dario Fo. Mayor? |location=Avellino |publisher=Per Caso Sulla Piazzeta, Collana Twin Faces|year=2010 |isbn= 978-88-88332-123 |edition=Italian & English}}
* {{Cite book |first=Tony |last=Mitchell |title=Dario Fo: People's Court Jester (Updated and Expanded) |location=London |publisher=[[Methuen Publishing|Methuen]] |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jrdMAgAAQBAJ |year=1999 |isbn=0-413-73320-3 }}
* {{Cite book |first=Antonio |last=Scuderi |title=Dario Fo: Framing, Festival, and the Folkloric Imagination |publisher=Lanham (Md.): Lexington Books |year=2011 |isbn=9780739151112}}
* Soriani, Simone (2020), ''Petrolini e Dario Fo. Drammaturgia d'attore'', Roma, Fermenti Editrice.

==References==
{{Reflist|22em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Dario Fo}}
* [http://www.dariofo.it Official website] {{in lang|it}}
*[http://noblib.internet-box.ch/NLEW.php?authorid=94 List of Works]
* {{Nobelprize}}
* [http://bombmagazine.org/article/664/dario-fo 1985 interview with Matthew Fleury] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161014060949/http://bombmagazine.org/article/664/dario-fo |date=2016-10-14 }}
* [https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/02/beppe-grillo-dario-fo-italy 2013 interview with Tom Kington, ''The Observer'']
* {{IBDB name|4969}}
* {{IOBDB name|12964}}

{{Dario Fo}}
{{Navboxes
|title= Awards received by Dario Fo
|list1=
{{Sonning Prize laureates}}
{{Nobel Prize in Literature Laureates 1976-2000}}
{{1997 Nobel Prize winners}}
}}
{{Portal bar|Catholicism|Italy|Society|Theatre|Writing}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fo, Dario}}
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